Rieke Vos curator Dutch Pavillion International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia
Tuesday 8 April 2025
In collaboration with artist Dries Verhoeven curator of Teylers Museum Rieke Vos will represent The Netherlands during the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Verhoeven will become the first artist to bring performance art to the Dutch Pavilion. The upcoming edition of the Biennale Arte 2026 will take place from 9 May to 22 November 2026.
The Mondriaan Fund advisory committee gave a positive recommendation of Verhoeven and Vos’ plan regarding its quality and international impact. The committee also believed that the plan would result in the pavilion being used in a distinctive new way.
Verhoeven and Vos have proposed a performative intervention in the Dutch Pavilion. Through this intervention, Verhoeven responds to a smouldering state of uncertainty, he currently perceives in the Netherlands and Europe. The Dutch Pavilion, built in the optimistic post-war years, is not only the location of the presentation, but is itself the subject of the intervention.
Dries Verhoeven: ‘Geopolitical tensions are grave, and that’s putting it mildy. It has been many years since our future felt this uncertain. I want to attempt to make this unease tangible, within the “safe space” of the Biennale. To have the opportunity to do this in the company of so many fantastic artists is nothing short of a blessing.’
Dries Verhoeven and Rieke Vos
Photography: Robin de Puy
